The cast and crew of Discovery’s Jungle Goldfled a militia that wanted to arrest them, which was filmed for the series. So is the show, in its second season and follows men who mine for gold in Africa, fake in any way? Its stars, Scott Lomu and George Wright, answered questions on Reddit last month and said that “the things that happen on the show are 100% real” but may be “overly dramatized.” They did admit that they “have to repeat stuff at times” if equipment fails or something interferes with audio. Lomu told The Hollywood Reporter “hearing people say the show is fake is almost offensive because real life is much, much worse than they’re seeing on TV.”

Two of The X Factor‘s major sponsors, Pepsi and GM, have bailed on the show (like smart viewers, zing!); Pepsi was its flagship sponsor, paying $60 million initially. In their place will be Procter & Gamble, which will promote Cover Girl, Herbal Essences, and Secret; and Honda, which will use the show to launch a minivan.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Rob Owen asked CBS if Big Brother plans all of its competitions in advance for fairness, and got an answer that hedges: “producers do have an overall plan for how the challenges and twists will play out throughout the summer.”

Salinger, the new documentary about writer J.D. Salinger, had its surprise twist revealed in news stories, and according to critical reviews, perhaps that’s a good thing. Kate Aurthur writes in Buzzfeed about its “terrible” reenactments, over-use of talking heads, and excessive focus on The Catcher in the Rye (my favorite work of his is in the amazing collection Nine Stories). Claudia Puig’s USA TODAY review calls it “compelling and captivating” in a brief review, but Dana Stevens’ Slate review called it a “tabloid undertaking,” and A.O. Scott’s New York Times review calls it “less a work of cinema than the byproduct of its own publicity campaign” that is a “blend of reverence and character assassination is an almost perfect distillation of the modern pathology of fame.”

Bravo renewed its docu-drama Below Deck for a second season, and one of its stars, Kat, talks about being cast for the show–and the crew was cast, though the captain of the boat (which had its name changed for the production) was its real captain.

Julie Chen has hosted Big Brother 15 for 15 seasons and even watched live feeds but she told ET that it was only “this season has opened my eyes to human nature. These people are living in a bubble and if you don’t get called out or shamed into behaving properly, I don’t think you’re inclined to change.” Also, she says “the casting hasn’t really ever changed and it shouldn’t change next year” even though “the ignorance in this house this season was a huge headache for the producers and the network. No one wanted that. We’ve all spent way too many hours dealing with that ugliness.”

TNT’s new reality series Cold Justice, which follows two women who solve cold cases, debuted last Tuesday and became “one of basic cable’s top 10 unscripted series launches for the year-to-date,” TNT said. It’s produced by Law & Order’s Dick Wolf and Magical Elves Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz.

In an essay about tipping that calls it “irrational, outdated, ineffective, confusing, prone to abuse and sometimes discriminatory,” Top Chef head judge Tom Colicchio (who just opened a new restaurant at the Mirage) says he’s considering eliminating tipping at one of his New York City restaurants, and instead paying “an hourly rate that would be consistent with what they make now. I think it makes perfect sense. I’m not sure my staff is going to think it makes perfect sense,” he said.

This video, “The Fox,” has no connection at all to reality TV but I’m sharing it because it is awesome. It’s by Norway’s Ylvis, comedian brothers who host a talk show and created this video to promote their new season. It exploded this weekend, and you will understand why when you watch it, unless you’ve already been replaying it in your head all weekend like I have.

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about Andy Dehnart

Andy Dehnart is a journalist who has covered reality television for more than 15 years and created reality blurred in 2000. A member of the Television Critics Association, his writing and criticism about television, culture, and media has appeared on NPR and in Playboy, Buzzfeed, and many other publications. Andy, 37, also directs the journalism program at Stetson University in Florida, where he teaches creative nonfiction and journalism. He has an M.F.A. in nonfiction writing and literature from Bennington College. More about reality blurred and Andy.

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reality blurred exists to cover television's most under-appreciated genre, reality TV, with original reporting, analysis, criticism, and curated information. It's edited by Andy Dehnart.
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